On Enemy Ground: Atlanta Falcons

In this segment of “On Enemy Ground”, we talked with The Falcoholic, who was gracious enough to ask and answer some questions about the Patriots/Falcons game this Sunday.

1) In what ways will Matt Ryan and Michael Turner look to exploit the Patriots Defense this Sunday?

The middle of your line is pretty stout, I believe, but that doesn’t mean Turner won’t try to make it happen up the gut. I would expect they’ll take to the edges for half his carries or better, however. Matt Ryan will attempt to exploit your secondary by simply throwing to the open weapon. With Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, Michael Jenkins and Marty Booker around, he doesn’t lack any weapons.

2) Bigger factor in the game: Roddy White or Tony Gonzalez? Will the Patriots big-nickel package be able to slow the HOF TE down?

Let’ s put it this way. If you slow down Gonzalez, White will have a nice game. If you slow down White, Gonzalez will have a nice game. I don’t expect you to be able to stop both.3) How should the Patriots go about stopping Michael Turner?

You’ve got to get to him before he gets to the hole. Turner runs with a lot of power and gains speed as he goes, so the earlier you hit him, the less likely he is to rumble away from your front seven and into dangerous territory. Ideally, you’ll put eight in the box against him, but Ryan could make you pay for that.4) Fast-Forward to game day-there are 2:00 left on the clock. Would you rather have the ball down 4 points, or be defending down 2 points?

Man, tough question. I’d rather have the ball down 4. Our defense is very, very scary at times and with only a field goal needed to win, I don’t know that I’d trust them to slam the brakes on your drive. Our offense is potent enough to make it happen. Tough, though.

5) If you could take one player off the Patriots roster and plug him into the Falcons, who would you take?

I would take Randy Moss, no question. Having Moss, Roddy White and Gonzo on the field at the same time would be completely ridiculous, and our offense would be nigh unstoppable. Gotta go with Moss.